The Fourth of July
by scarletcanary
Summary: After they miss the 4th of July, Mick takes the team back to celebrate


**Notes: Boom City is a real place on the Tulalip reservation. Every year they have an amazing firework stand city with the best fireworks. I definitely recommend going if you're in the area.**

 **Thanks to adacanary for beta reading this fanfic for me.**

* * *

Ava sat up as the alarm rang through Sara's room. However, rather than panic and jump out of bed, she merely flopped back onto her pillow. The alarms had become an unfortunate occurrence, especially after Ray accidentally reprogrammed the system to be more sensitive, much to the frustration of Sara, Zari, and everyone else on the ship. He really did mean well, and with his big sad eyes and Nora glaring at them from behind him, they weren't too hard on him.

"Gideon, what's going on?" Ava groaned into her pillow and buried her face in the soft cotton.

She was aware of the emptiness beside her and the cold sheets to her left. Sara was weirdly absent and Ava swore she'd make her pay if she found out that Sara had tripped the alarm. Apparently, this team couldn't go a single day without setting off some kind of alarm. She had been asleep for only four hours after a long mission ran late into the night.

"A member of the crew is attempting to make a time jump," Gideon replied.

Ava sighed, "who is it?"

It was most likely Sara, but with the majority of the team knowing how to fly the ship it could have been anyone.

"Mr. Rory," Gideon chimed. "He's plotting a course for Boom city on the Tulalip Indian reservation, June 30, 2018, with the goal of purchasing fireworks."

In her defense, while buried deep into her pillow, Ava didn't exactly hear everything that Gideon said. Other than Mick's name all she heard was bomb and fireworks.

If the alarm hadn't woken her up, then Gideon's words truly got her going. She quickly threw on her bathrobe and ran to the bridge.

"Mr. Rory what the hell are you doing! You can't bomb a city with fireworks!" She stormed onto the bridge, running up to the pilot's seat.

Mick stopped what he was doing and turned around in the pilot's seat. "I'm not bombing a city I'm going to boom city to buy some fireworks."

"Oh," Ava said, as she relaxed and properly tied her bathrobe. Sara allowed Mick to have his own fires once in a while, though he was prohibited from the setting of fireworks and other explosives in the ship. "I apologize Mick. Umm, does Sara know about this?"

"Yeah, Blondie, Zari, and the new kid are in the kitchen."

"Okay, thanks."

Mick acknowledge to her with a grunt and turned back to the control panel.

"I'm gonna go talk to Sara," she said mostly to herself.

Other than the bridge, the ship's kitchen was usually the central meeting place for the Legends. In the mornings it could be particularly busy and loud as everyone socialized while they tried to make breakfast. However, on this particular morning when Ava entered the galley she found it unusually quiet. Wally was preparing himself a cup of hot chocolate while Sara and Zari were seated at the table.

"Good morning, Ava," Wally said stirring his drink, "I did not know you were coming with us. Would you like some coffee?"

"Perhaps in a moment, but thanks Wally," Ava said.

She looked over to see Sara half asleep over her bowl of oatmeal and Zari staring into her cup of coffee looking just as tired. As Ava walked over to them Sara's head dropped as she fell asleep about to face plant into her bowl. Ava rushed forward but, Sara was saved from a face full of oats by Zari elbowing the bowl out of the way so that Sara fell onto her arm. Having hit a soft surface Sara immediately jolted up and blinked a few times. As she looked around the room she realized what had happened.

"Good morning Sara," Ava said, as she raised her eyebrow at Sara and pulled up a chair next to her. "Mick said that he's going to Boom city in order to purchase fireworks. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"

She was partly teasing and somewhat serious. Sara pouted at Ava and was immediately forgiven. She reached for her hand under the table and Ava rubbed her thumb over the back of Sara's hand. Sara had no reservations about PDA and scooted closer, pressing up against Ava.

"He said he wanted to get some for the 4th of July. Apparently we missed it." Sara said, yawning, "Zari has never bought fireworks either so she wanted to go too and Wally heard us and woke up."

Her yawn was contagious as Ava and Zari followed suit and yawned, followed by a reluctant Wally.

"And this had to be done at five in the morning?" Ava asked.

"I guess Mick and I just got a little excited," Wally explained as he joined them at the table.

"It was so cute," Sara said, giving up on trying to stay upright, she leaned into Ava, resting her head on Ava's shoulder. "I just couldn't say no."

Wally scoffed at the idea of being cute as Mick walked into the galley.

"We're here," he announced, rubbing his hands together in excitement, "I parked us right behind the casino."

Despite the exhaustion, Ava could see in his features he looked happy. Ava and rarely seen him so excited, his eyes were lit up like the fireworks he was so desperate to buy. Ava hated to be the one to break up the party, though, as she looked around the galley, it was clear that they were all too tired to continue their adventure.

"That's great Rory, but maybe we should continue this in the morning," Ava said.

Her statement was met with groans and protests until Sara lifted her head to agree with her.

"Ava's right. It's too early for this and we could all use a few more hours of sleep. Besides, the rest of the crew will probably want to go firework shopping and there's no sense in making two trips."

"I suppose you're right," Wally said, getting up from his seat.

Mick thought it over for a moment, looking around at their tired faces. "Yeah, okay," Mick said, getting caught in Sara's second yawn.

"Thank you," Ava said.

Wally and Zari abandoned their breakfast and made their way back to bed, and Sara, Mick, and Ava followed them down the hall. Ava and Sara supported each other with their hands around each other's waists. Sara was slightly unsure if Ava would fall asleep in her arms as they approached their room.

"Good night, guys," Sara said to them as Ava ushered her into their room. Zari gave her a wave and Mick said 'night boss,' as they headed into their own rooms.

"Thank you," Sara whispered to Ava as she pulled back the covers and they crawled into bed.

Sara was asleep before Ava even got settled, and she placed her hand on Sara's chest, letting the rise and fall of her lover's study breath and firm heartbeat calm her. As she fell asleep, she couldn't help but be a little bit excited for her technically first 4th.

The other ones were just false memories and her last two independents days were spent at the Bureau overlooking the few rockets that exploded outside her window. This year would be different, she had someone she loved and an almost family that she could spend the holidays with.

* * *

After a good night's sleep, the rest of the crew was informed of their plans. Everyone was eager to participate in the holiday and had quickly gotten ready. Once everybody was ready to go shopping, Sara gathered them in the cargo bay.

"Alright everybody listen up," Sara said, clapping her hands to get their attention. "We need to set up a few ground rules before we go."

The room filled with a collection of groans as everybody sat down realizing they wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.

"Okay number one, no stealing, this isn't a TNT superstore, this is the reservation and we will be paying. Now Gideon has given you all an allowance of two hundred dollars, use it wisely," she said, emphasizing her words and looking directly at all of them.

"Okay that's it. Let's go!"

"Boom City, Boom City!" Nate yelled, heading out the door followed by Wally and Ray.

"Shall we?" Zari asked holding her hand out to Amaya.

"My lady," Amaya said linking her arm with Zari's.

Constantine followed them and put out his cigarette as Gary babbled about the fireworks.

"Nora, are you coming?" Ray asked popping his head back in when he realized she wasn't flowing them.

Nora looked out at the booths across the street with a disdain that hid her reluctance to step off the Waverider. Sara followed her line of sight to the open field where people were setting off their fireworks.

"Oh I got you these," he said, holding out a pair of blue earplugs. "They're made for blocking out a Canary's scream. Cisco gave me a few last year."

"Okay, I guess I'll come," she said, grabbing the earplugs from Ray's palm. "But I only want sparklers."

"And no firework packs that are taller than Sara," Ava called out to the gang.

"Babe!" Sara said. "Now they'll be dragging me around the entire time."

"What, that's ridiculous, they know how tall you are."

* * *

Apparently, they did not.

"Hey Sara come here," Nate said, waving her over as he stood next to a green pack.

Sara sent her with a look that told Ava this was her fault and sent Nate another look that shut him up.

"We really shouldn't anyway," Wally said.

Rory's booming laughter came from somewhere in the firework stands as he caught up with his old friends and bartered for prices on mortars. There was a giant grin across his face that hadn't left since this morning. Ava had never realized how much this meant to him, but she was sure to remember it.

Despite her annoyance at Ava, Sara was enjoying herself as well. They had already walked up and down the stalls and purchased a few sparklers and other fireworks. Ava insisted on buying Sara a brat pack and in return, Sara bought her a pack of pooping dogs. For now, they had settled over by the food stands with coffee and mini doughnuts as they watched the rest of their friends enjoy the fireworks.

It happened to be unusually cold for June, with the sky clouded over and the ground wet and muddy. Ava scooted closer to Sara, her personal heater. Her movement didn't go unnoticed as Sara wrapped an arm around her waist, cuddling her close. Sara was always the cuddler, but Ava had her moments. She enjoyed Sara's physical touch, Sara who was real and firm, kept her grounded at times.

Though she preferred Sara's soft words of affection that drifted into her ear like a lullaby. Not just I love but other little phrases that passed Sara's lips. Words that covered her sincerity to Ava. Words that inspired her and encouraged her, Sara's words gave her strength.

"What?" Sara asked, in a teasing tone, catching Ava's eyes on her.

"Nothing," Ava replied pressing a kiss to Sara's head.

Sara giggled and beamed at her, sending Ava's heart to the clouds.

Her face must have had that love-struck look because Sara's giggle turned into laughter as she hugged Ava tighter.

Constantine and Gary wandered over with a small bag of fireworks. Ava still didn't like him, more so now that he was dating Gary. She had to be mindful of her friend's heart, he wasn't like her in that he knew how to handle a playboy or girl. However, when she saw the way Constantine smiled at him when he thought no one was looking, even while Gary was being annoying, she knew his affections were genuine.

"I need to light up a smoke so we're heading back," he said, already twirling his lighter. She especially hated his smoking habit and the probability of Gary picking it up as well.

"Did you two find anything cool?" Gary asked.

Sara laughed again and held up the small plastic backpack of fireworks. "Ava bought me this brat pack."

"What, it's fitting," Ava said.

Sara was such a brat sometimes, but Ava still loved her, even if it meant putting up with her and her crew's shenanigans at five in the morning.

"Alright we'll see you guys back on the ship," Sara said, turning on her com and addressing the rest of the crew. "Hey guys, wrap it up. You got ten more minutes and then we're leaving."

Her orders were met with groans and complaints. "Aww but we haven't even been in the bounce house yet," Zari complained.

"You two are too old," Ava replied.

"There's no sign posted," Amaya defended. "And there are no kids currently on it."

"You two want to get kicked out fine by me," Sara said.

It was early in the morning and they were some of the few people wandering around. One of the boys who was monitoring the area and gave a shrug and opened the netted doors for them.

The two left their fireworks with Sara and Ava, then hopped into the bounce house. They laughed as they jumped together like a pair of children, blissfully unaware of the burdens of adulthood.

"Done," Wally said, walking up to them with a bag of fireworks in each hand.

"Did you get anything cool?" Sara asked.

"Yeah, I got chubby-puppies! I think it's a fountain but it should be cool and I got a few other things," Wally said, holding up the box of chubby-puppies.

"Nice," Sara said.

"Hey!" someone shouted.

They turned to see a woman rushing towards the bounce house that Zari and Amaya were currently enjoying.

"Off now!" They shouted.

Amaya and Zari's laughter quickly ceased as they carefully crawled out of the bounce house.

"Sorry," they said, not meeting the woman's eyes.

"Oh come on Aaliyah, what's the big deal?" the guy who had helped them asked.

"This is for children only! They could have popped it!" She insisted.

"Again we're really sorry," Zari said, as they walked away.

"Well I think it's time to leave," Sara said, wanting to avoid any more trouble she knew the Legends were bound to get into.

"That's probably a good idea," Ava's agreed, as they grabbed their bags.

"Hey Mick, it's time to go," Sara said, waving him over.

Mick, who was still busy chatting up one of the owners of the stalls, gave them a disappointed look, something Ava had rarely seen on his face. Nonetheless, he said goodbye and wandered back over to them with his own pile of fireworks.

The group trudged back over to the Waverider, eventually setting their purchases in the cargo bay along with the boy's pile.

"I thought we agreed to no amount of fireworks taller than Sara," Ava said surveying the large amount that was easily two Saras'.

"You said no packs taller than Sara," Nate argued. "You never said anything about the amount we could get."

"Yeah," Mick agreed. "Come on pantsuit, lighten up a bit."

"Don't worry, Ava," Sara said, wrapping her arms around Ava's waist and kissing her jawline.

The boys took it as a sign to leave and walked up the stairs, giving them a little privacy that Sara took full advantage of.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy the show," she whispered in Ava's ear. Her breath, hot against Ava's neck, sent shivers down her spine and a familiar warmth to grow inside her.

"And I'll make it up to you later," Sara said pressing her lips to Ava's pulse point. She slipped her hands up the back of Ava's shirt. Promising a more intimate encounter that night.

The way Sara touched her and the words she whispered in Ava's ear had her melting on the spot. She knew that she had to put her foot down one of these days. She also wondered how she was ever unable to let Sara get away with anything. Although, Sara had never taken advantage of her, only insisting that Ava have a bit more fun, something that Ava found herself objecting to less and less each day.

"Promise?" Ava asked.

"Promise," Sara said, pressing her lips to Ava's in a kiss that was too short.

"Now let's go shoot off some fireworks!" she said.

* * *

When Sara and Ava had returned to the deck, all the Legends were strapped in and ready to go. They picked an old airstrip just outside of Central City on July 4 sometime in the 80's. No one wanted to dutifully wait until sunset, and Ava was pretty sure that Mick would commandeer the ship if anyone had even suggested waiting.

Of course, there was a bit of prep to do beforehand. Ray insisted on a barbeque while Mick and Wally had decided to go through the assortment of fireworks. They sorted them into piles for nighttime and daytime and started to decide on an order for when to set off each one.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Legends gathered folding chairs and tables to set up for dinner. It didn't take long, meaning that they were now running around with some of the daytime fireworks including pops, sprinklers, and smoke bombs.

Ava looked out at them from the kitchen window as she chopped a red pepper for the pasta salad. Outside of the time stream, the windows displayed the outdoor world rather than a rainbow of colors or pictures of the world. She mostly watched Sara, her hair flying around as she danced with a sparkler. The sky outside was a blaze of pink and orange clouds as the twilight set in. The colors set Sara's hair ablaze and Ava was enraptured with the sight of her. She was so happy and free.

"Hey Ava, you almost done with the salad?" Ray asked from where he managed the grill, complete with a 'kiss the chef' apron. Something Nora took full advantage of.

"Yeah, almost," she replied, cutting the strips into squares.

"Great, the steaks are done, so we're almost ready," he said, turning the last one over. "Honey, can you take the corn and the wild rice down? Nate should have the tables set by now."

"Sure," Nora said, with a smile she only had for him.

Ava was still getting used to seeing it without the maliciousness behind it, but she had to admit they were cute and clearly meant for each other.

Ava placed the peppers into the salad as Ray put the last of the steaks on the plate. They walked out together with the rest of the food. Out of all the Legends, other than Sara, Ray was her closest friend. Like her, he valued rules and schedules and they often stress cleaned together.

"I'm glad you were able to take the day off," Ray said. "Sara likes having you around, I mean we all do, but it's nice you can spend time here."

"Thanks, I like spending time here with all of you," she said. "We're a family. Even though I've never had one, I can imagine it feels like this."

"You don't have to imagine. We are a family and you're a part of it." He said.

"Thanks, Ray."

"Yeah, no problem." He gave her a smile and shuffled the steak plate to one hand. He pulled her in for a one armed hug that she returned with affection. He was the only other person she had hugged, but he was right, the Waverider was starting to feel like home.

"Should we be jealous?" She heard Nora ask. She and Ray pulled apart to see Sara and Nora standing in the cargo bay with their hands on their hips.

"I don't know," Sara said, narrowing her eyes at them.

"Shut up," Ava said, with a smile taking a few steps forward to greet Sara.

Sara had to reach up on her toes in order to kiss Ava, as the latter was wearing boots and Sara had opted for sneakers. When they broke apart, they saw that Nora and Ray had greeted each other in a similar fashion, with Ray ducking his head down to reach Nora's lips.

Sara took the second plate of food from Ava as they all walked out onto the runway where everyone else had set up the tables.

"Come on guys, sit down, the food's ready," Sara said, placing her platter in the middle of the table.

The Legends put out the sparklers and gathered around the table. Everyone dug into the food for a not quite midnight snack, but a past dinner meal. As they ate, the twilight disappeared, and the darkness settled in. Nate and Ray fetched a couple of lanterns from the cargo bay, placing them on the table as they finished.

Ray had worked hard to make Mick's favorite dessert, apple pie. He and Ava also made brownies with fresh vanilla ice cream. Ava savored every bite of the warm chocolate brownie and the ice cream that melted on top of them. They put away the food and the tables, dragging the chairs into a line and setting up the first of the fireworks.

"Go on Mick, light em up," Zari said gesturing to where Mick had set up the first fountain.

Mick haw most of the fireworks rigged so that they went off one after the other. The team was treated to a light show of fountains ranging from red and green sparkles to purple and blue showers that lit up the pavement. In between displays, they relied on hand signals as several people had opted for earplugs. They all oohed and awed as the fire exploded in front of them.

The fountains gave way to artillery and mortars, as Mick and Wally ran back and forth setting them off. Sara migrated from her chair to Ava's lap, sneaking under her blanket and laying her head against Ava's shoulder. Ava pressed her cheek to Sara's head and snuggled closer to her as Sara tipped her head back to see the lights.

The rest of the Legends were similarly arranged, cuddling close as the night wore on. The show seemed to never stop as one after the other, they were lit up and brightly displayed.

Ava enjoyed the show, there was magic in the way the explosion lit up the air in color, with several pattern and arrangements. However, no one could beat the excitement Mick had. He never stopped smiling nor chuckling at each display.

Eventually, Mick stood up and announced that this was the last set. Ava nudged Sara as she has drifted off a few moments ago. She opened her eyes and sat up.

Mick lit the wick and walked back to them, settling back down. The last one was a beautiful series of red, white, blue explosions that lit up the sky, but gave way to the morning sun. As the flames went out, they sat and watched the sunrise for a moment, letting the excitement of the night wear off and fatigue settle in.

"Okay," Sara said standing up, leaving Ava exposed to the cold. "Let go to bed."

It wasn't too hard to get the rest of the Legends to follow her lead. They all gather up their blankets and stumbled back onto the Waverider.

"Gideon, can you cloak the ship?"

"Of course, Captain."

"We'll leave in the morning," Sara explained.

"Goodnight," Zari said, wrapped up like her favorite food, as she and Amaya left for their room.

"Night pet," Constantine said, as he half-carried a sleepy Gary to their room.

The rest of them said their goodnights and slowly trickled out of the halls.

"Will you go warm the bed for me?" Sara asked Ava, untangling herself from Ava's arms as she rests, hugging her from behind.

"Okay," Ava said, pulling away and lifting her head from Sara's shoulder.

Mick and Sara walked slowly down the hall. When they arrive at his room, Sara paused.

"Happy 4th of July, Mick and Happy Birthday." She said, giving him a pat on the shoulder before walking over to her own room.

Almost no one on the ship knew that it was his birthday and Mick liked to keep it that way. When he walked into his room he was surprised to find a small stack of gifts waiting for him. As much as he hates his birthday, there's no way he would turn away a gift.

He eagerly ripped off the packaging and was pleasantly surprised by the few little things they got for him. A new pair of gloves, a silver lighter beautifully engraved with patterns of fire, and the stack of photographs from that night. Amaya must have had Gideon rushed to print them as they're still warm in his hands. He's not the sentimental type, but he might as well keep them. Although as much as he liked the printed copy of his book Zari had carefully constructed, nothing beats the fireworks.

He thinks back to the last time he enjoyed his birthday this much. Lisa and Snart had saved up for months so that they were able to go to drive all the way up to Tulalip and buy fireworks. Then they had set them off and watched as the sparks illuminated the sky. The next day they were on the run after they robbed an ATM on the way back to Central City, having realized they had run out of cash.

Back then it was just him, Snart and Lisa. This time was different, this time he didn't have to run from anything. With the team, he didn't have to always worry about the safety of his family. Although, he'd never admitted to doing so.


End file.
